Hasan 1 Sayeed Hasan Mrs. Collins LNG 332 18 March 2011 The Old South vs.

the New South in A Rose for Emily While reading, A Rose for Emily, the reader realizes that the main character, Miss Emily is stuck in the past. Miss Emily serves as a symbol of the Old South with the town being a symbol of the New South. These two versions of Southern culture differ greatly and the differences between each other make it hard for the town to understand Miss Emily and her unusual life. To properly understand the comparison between the comparison between both the old and new southern cultures in A Rose for Emily, the reader must understand the culture in the New and Old South, understand the context in which it is used in the short story, and recognize how they are linked to the mysterious life of Miss Emily. The New South and the Old South differed greatly. The culture and the people were different as a result of a large transformation in southern life. People in the Old South were very stringent in their ways and accustomed to their life. They did not welcome change. Many people in the Old South owned slaves and live on large plantations. There was no intermingling between the social classes. Interracial marriages were looked down upon and were deemed scandalous. Social classes in the Old South consisted of planters and plantation owners as the elite and slaves and indentured servants on the bottom. There was never a clear middle class in Old Southern society (Calvert). There was no flexibility within these classes. Generally, the more slaves one

Hasan 2 had the more of a position in Old Southern society. After the Civil War, abolition had set in upon the south. Abolition caused a drastic change within Old Southern society forcing it to change its ways and accept free blacks. It would soon cause an overhaul of southern culture; society had to make room for free blacks. Planters were weakened because of a lack slaves to do all the work. Racism was ever more prevalent and inhibited free blacks in every way putting them at the bottom of Old Southern society. With the introduction of abolition, Old Southern culture came to an end and ushered in the New South. It was a more diverse south with free blacks working and northerners coming down to industrialize the south. Lots of adversity met free blacks as many racist laws were passed by southern states. To respond to the southern adversity the federal government issued many laws and acts to make life for free blacks better (Kelly). This shows the progression and the differences between the Old South and the New Souths respective cultures. While reading, A Rose for Emily, the reader gets a feeling that Miss Emily is a symbol of the Old Souths culture. She goes through a troubled family life, living alone with her father. The town respects her and her family. She is exempt from many things that other people in the town arent exempt from. As the story progresses, she becomes more a symbol of mystery within the town. Miss Emily is depicted as a southern belle, and serves as a reminder of the Old South (Pierce). As she ages she does not change with society; she is still in the past. For example, in the New South taxes were introduced and everyone must pay them, Miss Emily does not pay them because she has never paid them. She has no essence of time; she still thinks the same people are governing the town when it has been decades since that person has passed. There are mysteries surrounding Miss Emilys family rumors say that her father never let her marry. Because she was never allowed to marry, she is socially awkward and does not try to mingle with people. She breaks that trend one time and loves a man from the north but he does not love her back. Because

Hasan 3 of this, Miss Emily ends up killing him and keeping him in her house. The town always vouches for her, three graybeards and one younger man, a member of the rising generation have conspired to cover up Emilys horrible crime, says Pierce in his analysis of the short story. Miss Emily was always revered by the town and her crimes were kept secret because of her being a symbol of the Old South. The younger generations of leaders feel obligated to serve Miss Emily from the older generation (Pierce).